Learning Curves in the Wind and Solar Sectors in South Africa

Abstract

Wind energy technology has been identified as one of the key renewable energy sources in South Africa. Currently, there is some uncertainty regarding the planned Wind build as the draft Integrated Resource plan (IRP) of 2013 has proposed a reduction from the original plan. Such uncertainty of wind projects is affecting the development and localisation pathway of the South African wind industry. In this context, we introduce a dynamic model integrating Systems of Innovation (SI), particularly the functions of Technological Innovation Systems (TIS) and System Dynamics (SD) for the evaluation of renewable energy policies in South Africa.